A/N: This story is dedicated to all the men and women who lost their lives in armed conflict. They will forever be remembered for their services to their country.
"Marco, look at all of them." whispered Star solemnly.
Star and Marco looked out at a vast cornfield. In between the rows of corn stood small white crosses, marking the graves of the long-deceased soldiers who had perished in the War of Mewnipendence. To Marco, it felt oddly akin to visiting a cemetery dead back on Earth, but compared to the cemeteries he had seen, the sheer size of the rough-and-ready graveyard stunned him.
"Wow." said Marco softly. "I never knew that this many people were lost in that war."
Star sighed. "Marco, this was no genocide. We were up against incredibly strong monsters at the time. The only reason Mewni still stands today is because of the magic wand. We had no choice."
Marco's expression of shock soon also turned to a frown. "You know, Star... I guess I misinterpreted that book of yours. I misconstrued that book's meaning because it seemed to talk about the war in a glorious manner. I thought it was a biased, supremacist book."
"It's okay, Marco." said Star. "If I had just told you the truth from the beginning, I know that you would have known it was the truth. I just assumed that everyone would know that the war was like this."
"So, sort of like Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II back on Earth." compared Marco. "It was awful that we had to do it, but we had no choice. The war needed to end."
"Yeah. I guess so." admitted Star.
At that moment, Star turned around. She noticed that her mom and dad had just stood up and started facing the field. A crowd of a few hundred, who stood behind them, also stood. They all took their right hands and placed it over their hearts. To the right of the crowd, a fifty-person military band played a solemn tune. A piano and a French horn started playing the tragic-sounding, yet beautiful sounding melody. Upon hearing it, Star reached her left hand up towards her eyes, wiping tears.
"They saved Mewni, Marco." mumbled Star.
"Like how our veterans saved the whole free world." sighed Marco as he, too, began to feel tears forming in his eyes.
After several more measures of instrumental interlude, everyone in the crowd sang in unison:
In Mewni's fields the corn stalks grow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the night
The knights, still locked into the fight,
Are all but heard from down below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, held swords, saw the wand glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Mewni's fields.
Take up our battle with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The sword; be it yours to hold high
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though corn stalks grow
In Mewni's fields.